As usual with the creation of sets for the movies, the set designers had to greatly extrapolate from the few descriptions that Tolkien gave within the books.

The book version of Rivendell

Architecture:

Frodo’s bedroom: “The ceiling looked strange: it was flat, and it had dark beams richly carved. He lay a little while longer looking at patches of sunlight on the wall, and listening to the sound of a waterfall.” (Many Meetings)

Dining Hall: “Elrond … sat in a great chair at the end of the long table upon the dais … In the middle of the table, against the woven cloths upon the wall, there was a chair under a canopy [for Arwen]” (Many Meetings)

Hall of Fire: “They went across a wide passage and through other doors, and came into a further hall. In it were no tables, but a bright fire was burning in a great hearth between the carven pillars upon either side. … “This is the Hall of Fire,” said the wizard. “Here you will hear many songs and tales – if you can keep awake. But except on high days it usually stands empty and quiet, and people come here who wish for peace, and thought. There is always a fire here, all the year round, but there is little other light.” (Many Meetings)

Bilbo’s bedroom: “It opened on to the gardens and looked south across the ravine of the Bruinen. … looking through the window at the bright stars above the steep-climbing woods” (Many Meetings)

Bilbo’s bedroom: “the old hobbit pulled out from under his bed a wooden box [containing Sting and the mithril jacket]” (The Ring Goes South)

Bilbo’s bedroom: “It was littered with papers and pens and pencils; but Bilbo was sitting in a chair before a small bright fire.” (Many Partings)

Atmosphere:

“”a perfect house, whether you like food or sleep, or story-telling or singing, or just sitting and thinking best, or a pleasant mixture of them all.” Merely to be there was a cure for weariness, fear and sadness.” (Many Meetings)

“It’s a big house this, and very peculiar. Always a bit more to discover, and no knowing what you’ll find round a corner. And Elves, sir! Elves here, and Elves there! Some like kings, terrible and splendid; and some as merry as children. And the music and the singing” (Many Meetings)

“The feast was merry and the food all that his hunger could desire.” (Many Meetings)

“and he gathered there many Elves, and other folk of wisdom and power from among all the kindreds of Middle-earth, and he preserved through many lives of Men the memory of all that had been fair; and the house of Elrond was a refuge for the weary and the oppressed, and a treasury of good counsel and wise lore.”

“storied and figured maps and books of lore that were in the house of Elrond.” (The Ring Goes South)

“A gleam of firelight came from the open doors, and soft lights were glowing in many windows.” (The Ring Goes South)

Outside the Last Homely House:

“Sam led him along several passages and down many steps and out into a high garden above the steep bank of the river. He found his friends sitting in a porch on the side of the house looking east. Shadows had fallen in the valley below, but there was still a light on the faces of the mountains far above. The air was warm. The sound of running and falling water was loud, and the evening was filled with a faint scent of trees and flowers, as if summer still lingered in Elrond’s gardens.” (Many Meetings)

The porch described above was also used for the Council of Elrond.

“He walked along the terraces above the loud-flowing Bruinen … On a seat cut in the stone beside a turn in the path” (The Council of Elrond)

“They crossed the bridge and wound slowly up the long steep paths that led out of the cloven vale of Rivendell; and they came at length to the high moor where the wind hissed through the heather. Then with one glance at the Last Homely House twinkling below them they strode away far into the night.” (The Ring Goes South)

“[The Bruinen] was flowing fast and noisily, as mountain-streams do of a summer evening, when sun has been all day on the snow far up above. There was only a narrow bridge of stone without a parapet, as narrow as a pony could well walk on” (The Hobbit, A Short Rest)

Also mentioned, though not described, are woods and a forge.

The movie version of Rivendell

The movie version of Rivendell is incredibly beautiful, meant to provide a place of rest and peace and a complete contrast to the hobbits’ encounters with Nazgûl. To put this in the words of people who created it and acted in it:

“There’s so many little influences – the whole kind of Prague architecture, there’s a lot of Art Nouveau, some Italianate and other stuff, mingling with Celtic design.” (Jeremy Bennett, The Art of FotR)

“I think Rivendell is a good example of somewhere that feels real but is also totally unlike anywhere anyone had ever been before” (Alan Lee, The Guide to the Movie Trilogy)

“From an architectural point of view, the Rivendell set is a mass of detail: all the surfaces, the pillars, the roofs, the lanterns have flowing Elvish designs. Rivendell is filled with a flowing fantasy beauty.” (Dan Hennah, The Guide to the Movie Trilogy)

“When I first walked into Rivendell, I gasped. It was like being inside a huge, three-dimensional Lee painting; the sort of thrill that movie theme parks aim for. The largest of the Wellington studios had grown an autumnal forest glade of large fiberglass trunks and tangled canvas roots; a Japanese-style bridge spanned the electrified waterfall splashing into a pool. … The elves’ headquarters grew out of the vegetation, slim wooden pillars supporting walkways above open spaces and shaded arcades. … One upper-level gallery had four original Alan Lee landscapes that he had painted especially for his favorite set, and I wondered whose walls they would end up on.” (Ian McKellen, www.mckellen.com)

All these elements add together to produce a wistful, romantic, almost decadent style that also suggests a sense of lethargy, melancholy, of time standing still, and almost even decay.

Inside Rivendell

Most of the action at Rivendell occurs in the Council Chamber, though there are also scenes in the corridor containing the Shards of Narsil, Frodo’s bedroom and Bilbo’s bedroom. Even at this scale, it is clear that the movie Rivendell deviates somewhat from the book. While the book Rivendell doubtless has many corridors, none hold what is almost a shrine to Narsil and Isildur. What is similar, however, is the fact that it is hard to work out a layout for the whole building. Peter Jackson did this deliberately, in order to magnify the sense of otherworldliness. Whether Tolkien had a similar intention is anyone’s guess.

The buildings are incredibly intricate. Art Nouveau details abound, with spirals and curve giving the architecture an organic feel. Birds are also common – as Alan Lee felt that they seemed appropriate for Elven symbolism.

Also very common – inside and out – are statues made from a whiteish-grey stone. Most have expressions of sorrow or melancholy, and work the enhance the wistfulness of the set. Maybe the best example of this is Gilraen’s grave – another addition that is contrary to the story in the books.

Around Rivendell

One of the main influences for the film was the intertwining of architecture and nature.

“we were going for a more rustic feel” (Jeremy Bennett, The Art of the FotR)

“The idea of the building nestling amongst the trees, co-existing with nature, really appealed to me, all these trees being very organic within the story surroundings.” (Alan Lee, The Art of the FotR)

If you look at the production sketches, most have trees intertwined into the buildings, forming “living statues” and organic parts of structures such as Elrond’s throne. I don’t think this comes across particularly well in the final version of Rivendell, though the feeling of being at one with nature is still clear from the trees that surround the houses, and even from smaller things, such as the golden leaves on the floor of the Council Chamber.

If we look at the movie Rivendell versus the way Tolkien imagined its surroundings, it is easy to see that the movie Rivendell is in a much deeper valley, really hidden away in a deep cleft in the mountains. Tolkien’s vision, on the other hand, still has Rivendell hidden away from view, but with some land around the house. From a practical point of view, this would make more sense – Rivendell had a good number of elves living there, and their food and supplies would have to come from somewhere, and it would be much easier to create as much production as possible in the Bruinen valley.

Also, while the movie Rivendell is incredibly beautiful, I can’t help feeling that it is almost too elaborate. Rivendell was created as a refuge for elves fleeing from Sauron’s onslaught on Middle-earth, and for a good number of years, it had a mainly military function, and was besieged by Sauron’s army. Nothing of that practicality or sturdiness is shown in the movie. Of course, the Last Homely House would evolve over time, but I would imagine that underlying any decoration that got added in times of peace, the underlying structure would still be practical and defence-based.

Atmosphere

While a good number of the details of architecture can at least be said not to contradict the books, the atmosphere of the movie Rivendell is significantly different from that shown in FotR and The Hobbit.

The book Rivendell really is a Homely House – its corridors full of elves, fires roaring, and laughter and song filling the air. The only place where it is said that contemplation and silence dominates is the Hall of Fire, when it was not being used for nights of song.

There is nothing of that in the movie version, which comes across mainly as being a place of loss, remembrance, grief, and sadness. It is where Aragorn’s mother is buried, where the Shards of Narsil are held – recalling the olden days of Isildur, where Arwen has to make her decision about immortality, where the Elves are seen leaving Middle-earth and heading to the Grey Havens. It truly evokes the feeling that the age of the elves is ending, that Rivendell is one of their last refuges in the world. But in doing that, it loses some of the characteristics that make it what it was to so many elves through the Second and Third Ages – a place to rest, recuperate, sing and make music, glory in light and nature.